Just days after reportedly designating President Hassan Rouhani to head the fight against coronavirus, the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader has called on the country's Armed Forces to help contain the epidemic.

Axar.az reports citing Iranian media that in an "edict" to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Baqeri, Ali Khamenei has emphasized on the need for setting a "health and treatment headquarters" to prevent further spread of the killer Covid-19 across the country.

Mohammad Baqeri is an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General, directly appointed by Khamenei.

Furthermore, joining voices with the IRGC Chief Commander, Major General Hossein Salami, the 80-year-old cleric has implicitly described novel coronavirus epidemic as an American "biological attack."

Kianoush Jahanpour, a spokeswoman for the Iranian Health Ministry, said 429 people had died in the country. In total 10,075 suffers from coronaviruses in Iran.